I won't bother explaining what they are, I'm sure you'll figure it out! Some more work has been done since these were taken, so yes, this is not quite the final product, but a good idea of what I was doing.

 

When I got my Bronco the previous owner told me the key was the original aluminum key. I have two other Ford keys for my other two trucks and both of them are the typical gold color while this key for the Bronco is silver and presumptively aluminum like the PO said. I've never seen one like it and wonder if it was common for them to make them out of aluminum. One problem I've come across or at least noticed has to due with my locks. I've replaced the ignition switch and the ignition cylinder lock which was done to resolve the issue I had with having to get the key in the ignition just right to turn the key as well as the key turning the gauges on and off if it got wiggled. It resolved the gauge issue completely, but there's still a small hitch when you turn the key to start the Bronco. It's very slight compared to before, but it's there. After investigating things I came to the conclusion that the tip of the aluminum key has worn down. If I take all three keys I have and line them up you can clearly see that the aluminum key is shorter than the other two. It makes sense, because I used to have to put the key in all the way and then turn it while pulling it out a bit. I'm assuming that made the ridges of the key line up with the pins inside the cylinder. I tested that out with the old cylinder I took out and basically the keys bottom out on the back of the cylinder and that aligns everything. Its weird. I'm not sure if I can have a duplicate made, but with a more pronounced tip to restore proper functionality of the key. I think it's also the main reason I have problems with the other locks on the Bronco, though I know there's wear issues as well since the tailgate lock works perfect and the drivers door lock is the worst. Take a look see.

The outer gold key is for my '77 F100, the middle key is for my '75 F150, and of course the silver one is for the '78 Bronco. You can clearly see that the Bronco key has way more wear than the others, the end is far more round. Its just enough to screw things up. The key has to go in farther before it bottoms out on the back of the cylinder and that throws the alignment of the key ridges and cylinder pins.

 

I've rebuilt my front driveshaft. I replaced all three U-joints and rebuilt the CV by replacing the ball and spring with a new $11 unit rather than buying a complete new CV for $50-70. I won't post all the pics I took since I took a crap load, but I'll give a general idea of what I did. I did all of this either on the tailgate of my '75 F150 or on my counter in my apartment. It wasn't as easy or as fun as I hoped it would have been, but it got rid of the loud clicking I was experiencing whenever I would drive the Bronco in 4wd.

 

My wiper switch broke when I took the Bronco for its first muddin' excursion since I've had it. I was hitting the mud and muddy water enough to where I couldn't see at all so I had the wipers going. I noticed the wipers stopping whenever I'd hit a large enough bump. Eventually the switch died and fell apart inside the dash before I could really get myself into some real trouble, so I had to go home. I decided to get an intermittent wiper off an 80's truck and swap it in. I found two units, both off F-250 XLT Lariats. One was an '85 and the other an '89. The '89 was by far easier to remove, but both units are very similar and both work. The plugs are slightly different, having one less contact on them, and I might have to make a modification to get the windshield washers to work properly. I'll most likely use the other on my '77 F100 at some point and keep it's original 2 speed switch as a backup. Hopefully I'll have it ready to go again and I'll be able to test this POS in some deeper mud when I can see out the windshield while I do it! The pic of the Bronco is 2 days of raining after the trip through the mud, so it's not nearly as muddy as it was when I was doing it all. I had to stop at a gas station and clear the door windows and the windshield since I was looking through streaks in the mud to get home, good times.

 

That gave me a good laugh. It'd be the opposite for me, bringing home "backups" in case one in the fleet needs work, with my man having steam shoot out his ears. A little rough around the edges, so I can empathize with her lol, but congrats, ya'll will have a blast in that beast!

 

Thanks! I think my wife has finally gotten used to me buying pos's and, in her words, wiping my *** with my money.


So, I need to get this thing worthy of going camping. I've been putting a lot of things off as far as repairing the vehicles I have and I need to get back on track. I'm going to work from the outside in this time and worry about the interior components once I get everything else, like the loose steering, squared away. At some point recently it developed what I'm assuming is a broken transmission mount. You can feel things moving and making some clunking noise when you engage and disengage the clutch.

To get my juices flowing on the Bronco, I decided to go ahead and order some new wheels and tires for it. We'll see how much trouble that gets me into when they show up later this week.

 

Here's what the pitman arm/sector shaft is doing at the moment. I had one of my 5 year old twin girls cranking on the wheel with the engine off and I had a camera on it. As you can see it doesn't take a strong person to reveal the play. On my days off I'll see if I can simply tighten things up. Hopefully no splines on either end of things are screwed or else it'll be a bit more expensive than a couple of turns of the wrench, so to speak.

 

Nice Bronco, good display of patience. Nice thread as well. Way to share pictures of wiping your *** with money. It's the wiring that tests the patience the most. Enjoy!

 

Thank you, sir. The wiring has been fun. Hah. I still have a couple of things to run down. I'm going to pull the gauge cluster out at some point and go through it. The lighting on it seems to go out whenever it likes and a good smack on the front will sometimes bring the illumination back. All the gauges are in working order though, so that's good.

I spent the other day making a looooong checklist of things to go through and it seems every day I remember something I forgot to put on my list and it just keeps growing. It's still fun though.

 

I'm planning a JY trip for today after work (4-5 hours from now). I haven't been to my local JYs in quite a while for a good search. I'm actually pretty sure the last time I went was last year. I made a checklist of things to fix or repair on the Bronco. Some mechanical. Some cosmetic. But I'd like to get everything on my list taken care of regardless.

I'm gonna see if I can find 2 seat belt covers for my front seats. They're $20 each new from bronco graveyard and I'm willing to pay that, but only if it's the only way I can get some. Mine are all busted up and the belts just lay on the floor.

I need a new headlight adjuster for one of my headlights otherwise it jiggles.

I need a new cable for my hood latch along with the handle for inside the cab.

Gonna see if I can get some red door panels and arm rests.

I need a glove box door. If I can't find a red one, then I'll use the one out of my 75 and paint it later. I'd just rather have an original already in red that matches.

I need some red sun visors. I have a white set from my 75, but I think red would be better since everything else is red. The ones that are on the Bronco are brown and are missing the anchors that hold them in place, other than that they're pretty solid.

I'm gonna see if I can find a complete tailgate, top, and swinging tire carrier off a newer Bronco so I can swap them on to solve a few issues as simply as possible. I'd like to keep stuff period correct, but I see myself straying from that down the line, so I'm thinking I'll swap those items to get a functional tailgate and a top in better shape and then see if anyone wants my original stuff for maybe a restoration. I need to remember to get some bolts for the top since I'm missing some.

I need to get the front piece off a gauge cluster, the part that has the tabs for screwing the cluster into the dash since a tab or two is missing from mine. Oddly enough, my speedo goes up to 100 mph on this Bronco. I always thought, at least for the 70's, that all Ford 4x4's had speedos that only went to 85 mph. I'm wondering if someone swapped it in. It seems accurate when driving, though I've thrown it off by putting 35's back on. The turn signals in the cluster have faded out, so there's not much green left. I'll try to kill both of those problems by finding a gauge cluster to pillage.

I think most of the other things I need will need to be purchased new or I can pull them off my 75. I need the heater blower wheel from my 75. I need a new fuel filler hose since mine has a hole eaten through it and leaks during fillup. I need the section of heater ducting that goes to the center vents that's apparently made of paper. I know my 75 has that, but it might be toast or may not fit on a 78. So many things, so little time... more like patience! I'm sure there's more that I haven't noticed or found yet that needs attention.

I'll be sure to keep my F100 in mind as I'm looking, I still need stuff for it as well. A sweet OE FM radio comes to mind. I'll also keep other members in mind. I don't know if people still need the items, but I know some 70's "power by ford" valve covers for a 460 are desired along with a Bronco hood item I know mofoco1 was looking for for one of his projects. If anyone needs something, something within reason (I'm not gonna pull big items or drop a lot of $$), let me know within the next 3-4 hours and I'll write it down to take home with me to look for on my trip today. I'll be hitting our local 2-3 yards and see if anything fresh is there.

 

Oh yeah, I figure I'll post it here too. I got the new wheels and tires for my Bronco already. It's definitely helped to give me the itch for fixing this thing up some more, which was part of the whole idea of getting them. I'll post a pic and post the link to my other thread about them for good measure.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ntwonline.html

 

Well I found some items I was looking for, struck out on others, but I think it was a success overall.

I got a glove box and a glove box door plus the needed hardware of course. The door has the Ranger trim on it from the truck I took it off of. Mine is a Custom of course, so in the spirit of keeping things somewhat correct, I'm either going to take off the trim and leave the door bare or go back and get the Custom trim off the glove box door on the 78 Bronco I saw at the yard and put it onto mine. Decisions.

I also managed to find a window regulator, regulator motor, window lift tracks, tailgate support plate, and inner tailgate cover for my Bronco. SO, given that that all fell into my lap nicely and I believe that's all my tailgate is missing, I'll be keeping this tailgate and making it work.

I didn't find any intact door panels of any color. I managed to find an intact red arm rest, so that's a start. I found a metal finger cup, but its brown, so I'll just paint that up red.

I also finally found the hardware to hold on my spare. That was a lot more difficult than I thought it'd be.

I got a replacement wing window for the passenger side. Once I get the rear window in the tailgate all situated and get the wing window in, I'm going to see about getting the windows tinted before the Summer heat gets here. I plan on having the top off as much as possible, but I know if I take my kids camping in it like I would like to that I'll need the top on and with the AC missing from the rig I'll need a way to keep them from completely dying in the heat while on the long drive.

I also picked up a few odds and ends. I got one wiper blade holder or whatever you want to call it. I prefer those over the plastic ones that are in parts houses these days. I just need to find a matching one now. I removed a few pieces from a gauge cluster. I got the front side of the cluster that's silver, I got the clear lens, and I popped out some of the round green inserts for the blinkers. My blinkers in the cluster are flashing pretty much white, so I think I can pop those out and put the others in and get them back to green. All sorts of little things.

I dunno, there's still stuff out there I'm considering picking up out of the yards.

 

I'm considering getting these fenders just so I can have matching side trim with the rest of the bronco. Some day I'll at the very least make this whole thing one solid color whether that means just primering it all grey.

 

I'm considering getting these sweet Ford mudflaps as well. I'm also wondering what a Bronco with some West Coast mirrors would look like.... hmmmm..

 

So jealous that you have these trucks in yards near you. Everything near me in crushed or rotten from the side trim down.

Jess